Chase Ranch in

Cimarron, New Mexico Cimarron is a Village (United States), village in Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 792 at the 2020 United States census, 20 ...

, was founded in 1867 by Manly and Theresa Chase. As pioneers, from Wisconsin by way of Colorado, they crossed the

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, N ...

in a

covered wagon A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon used for passengers or freight hauling. It has a canvas, tarpaulin, or waterproof sheet which is stretched over removable wooden ...

and establish a new home in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Manly Chase purchased the land from

Lucien Maxwell Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell (September 14, 1818 – July 25, 1875) was a mountain man, rancher, scout, and farmer who at one point owned more than . Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in Uni ...

, part of the

Maxwell Land Grant The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado, Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant wa ...

. The ranch is near the Ponil Creek, a mile north of the Cimarron River, not far from the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

. The Ranch included the old

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

homestead. Before the arrival of pioneers, the land was populated by

Apaches The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

and

Ute people Ute () are an Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah, western Colorado, and northern New Mexico.Pritkzer''A Native American Encyclopedia'' p. 242 Historically, their t ...

. Manly provided the local Native Americans with beef, creating peaceful coexistence.

Background

Manly Chase (b. 1842) started with a sheep ranch. By 1875, he started raising cattle with

Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the ti ...

s and

Corriente cattle The Corriente is an American list of cattle breeds, breed of small cattle, used principally for rodeo events. It derives from Criollo Mexicano stock, which in turn descends from Iberian cattle brought to the Americas by the Conquistadors, and in ...

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British List of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It was the result of selective breeding from the mid-eighteenth century by a few famil ...

were introduced onto the ranch in 1883. Manly also planted an apple orchard that continues today. Manly and Theresa Chase raised six children in their 14-room ranch house. The Chase Ranch is famous for its heart-shaped

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

and allegedly the

Marlboro Man The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by advertising executive ...

's place of origin. Much is known about the Chase family as Manly Chase wrote more than 70 books of records, including several daily diaries that are now in the

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

Library. The Chase Ranch remained a family-owned ranch run by Chase descendants. This ended in August 2012, when Manly and Theresa's great-granddaughter Gretchen Sammis died. After Gretchen’s death, ownership of the ranch changed to the Chase Ranch Foundation. Gretchen had created the foundation to preserve the 11,000-acre ranch and her family’s heritage. Gretchen Sammis owned and operated the ranch for 58 years. Long before her death in August 2012, she had drafted the Chase Ranch Foundation paperwork. She wanted the Chase Ranch to educate young people in ranching. She was secretary of the Cimarron School Board, a member of the

National Cowgirl Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...

and 2007 New Mexico Cattleman of the year. She was appointed to the New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation Commission, the agriculture advisory committee to the state land office, and the New Mexico Resource Advisory Council. On October 21, 2013, the Chase Ranch Foundation and the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

signed an agreement for

Philmont Scout Ranch Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, near the village of Cimarron. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned by Scouting America. It is a high adventure base where crews of Scouts ...

to keep the ranch running and to preserve historic structures, manage a Chase museum, to create and run educational programs through living history presentations of New Mexico and American Southwest history, and to run a working cattle ranch with Gretchen's favorite breed, Herefords. Chase Ranch is adjacent to Philmont Scout Ranch. Beginning November 1, 2013, Philmont Scout Ranch gives tours of the main Chase house, Chase grounds, Chase orchards and Chase's tack room during the summer. The BSA has also installed restrooms and a picnic area at the Chase Ranch. Chase Ranch is near New Mexico State Road 204, in the 87714 zip code and 575 area code

References

External links

Cimarron Chamber of Commerce

{{Colfax County, New Mexico Ranches in New Mexico Colfax County, New Mexico Philmont Scout Ranch

Background

See also

References

External links